Guy Young on Why Ethena Launched a Neobank on Top of Its Stablecoin
Unchained | Sep 15 2026 | 00:52:08
Ethena's Guy Young explains why the companybuilt a neobank that pays 6% in yield, 5% cash back, and never tells users they're holding self-custodial stablecoins instead of dollars.
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DeFi's total value locked never reclaimed its 2021 peak, even four years and a full bull market later. That data point convinced Ethena Labs founder Guy Young the onchain dream needed a backup plan.
Young joins Laura Shin days after launching Ethena Pay, a neobank paying 6% on dollar deposits and 5% cashback in AVAX while hiding from users that their balance sits in a self-custodial stablecoin wallet, not a bank account. He argues yield, not brand loyalty, is what pulls the next hundred million users onto crypto rails.
They cover why Young shrugs off Tether-backed Plasma as a rival, how USDe's backing shifted from a basis trade toward AAA-rated real-world-asset lending, why a Revolut-style KYC breach is a risk Ethena can't fully control, and why card spend and FX fees, not USDe's own yield, are the revenue line he is actually chasing.
Host:
Laura Shin, Host / Unchained
Guest:
Guy Young - Founder and CEO of Ethena Labs
Timestamps
🏦 01:25 Why Guy built a neobank after DeFi's TVL never beat its 2021 peak
🥊 07:16 Why Guy doesn't see Tether-backed Plasma as a competitor
🕵️ 17:57 How Ethena Pay hides self-custody from users who don't know it
🌍 19:10 The nearly 50-country rollout and Ethena's slow, controlled go-to-market
📣 22:30 1inch Aqua: See how the shared liquidity platform lets LPs back multiple positions with one wallet balance at http://unchainedcrypto.com/go/1inch-yt
⛰️ 23:18 Why Ethena Pay chose Avalanche, not Ethereum, for settlement
🏛️ 29:20 How USDe's backing shifted from basis trades to AAA-rated RWA lending
🔓 33:00 What the Revolut KYC breach means for Ethena Pay's own compliance risk
💳 39:55 Why card spend, not USDe's yield, is the metric Guy actually chases
🚀 47:50 The 7-figure deposits that surprised Guy in Ethena Pay's first two weeks
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
========================================================
Thank you to our sponsor!
Visit 1inch.com to swap tokenized securities, crypto and more. Simple. Secure. Self-custodial. Whatever asset you’re buying - swap it at 1inch.com
========================================================
DeFi's total value locked never reclaimed its 2021 peak, even four years and a full bull market later. That data point convinced Ethena Labs founder Guy Young the onchain dream needed a backup plan.
Young joins Laura Shin days after launching Ethena Pay, a neobank paying 6% on dollar deposits and 5% cashback in AVAX while hiding from users that their balance sits in a self-custodial stablecoin wallet, not a bank account. He argues yield, not brand loyalty, is what pulls the next hundred million users onto crypto rails.
They cover why Young shrugs off Tether-backed Plasma as a rival, how USDe's backing shifted from a basis trade toward AAA-rated real-world-asset lending, why a Revolut-style KYC breach is a risk Ethena can't fully control, and why card spend and FX fees, not USDe's own yield, are the revenue line he is actually chasing.
Host:
Laura Shin, Host / Unchained
Guest:
Guy Young - Founder and CEO of Ethena Labs
Timestamps
🏦 01:25 Why Guy built a neobank after DeFi's TVL never beat its 2021 peak
🥊 07:16 Why Guy doesn't see Tether-backed Plasma as a competitor
🕵️ 17:57 How Ethena Pay hides self-custody from users who don't know it
🌍 19:10 The nearly 50-country rollout and Ethena's slow, controlled go-to-market
📣 22:30 1inch Aqua: See how the shared liquidity platform lets LPs back multiple positions with one wallet balance at http://unchainedcrypto.com/go/1inch-yt
⛰️ 23:18 Why Ethena Pay chose Avalanche, not Ethereum, for settlement
🏛️ 29:20 How USDe's backing shifted from basis trades to AAA-rated RWA lending
🔓 33:00 What the Revolut KYC breach means for Ethena Pay's own compliance risk
💳 39:55 Why card spend, not USDe's yield, is the metric Guy actually chases
🚀 47:50 The 7-figure deposits that surprised Guy in Ethena Pay's first two weeks
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices